Electric-lamp socket



A. L. SMITH.-

ELEGIBIC LAMP SOCKET. APPLICATION FILED mac. 1 h me.

Patented Feb. 17, 1920.

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ELECTRIC-LAMP sooner.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 17,1920.

Application filed December 11, 1818. Serial No. 266,206.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR. L. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ashtabula, in the county of Ashtab'ulaand State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful'Improvement in Electric-Lamp Sockets, of which the following is a ful clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. l

The object of this invention is to provide in a sim le form a socket adapted to yield ingly hold an electric lam so that the filament of the lamp will be ar'gely freed. from vibrations of the support to which the socket isattached. In many'installations, as for exam le, in the vicinity of heavy machinery, t ere is such continuous vibration that it is not feasible to useitungsten filament lam s in the ordinary sockets, the vibrations bre ing the filaments very quickly. It has accordingly been customary in these places to employ carbon filament lam s, which give a diminished quantity of lig t and use an excessive amount of current. j

In accomplishin my object I haveprovided a socket whic has both the'sleeve terminal and the base terminal yieldingly held, so that the lamp may be said to float under a spring 'retension. This socket" has been demonstrated in practice and has earned the name of shock-absorbing socket The im ventioncomprises the means by which I accomplish the result stated as hereinafter more fully described in connection with the illustrative embodiment shown in the draw- The drawings sh'ow m socket as an adapter-that IS with a. screw into an ordinary socketbut other forms of base may be employed-if desired. In these drawings Figure l is'a longitudinal section of the socket with a lam in place;

- Fig. 2 is a longitudinal'section o. the socket idle' Fig. 3 is a cross section as' ind icated by the section line {on Flg. 2 lookln 1n the direction of the arrows 3 or toward t 6 open end of the socket' Fig. 4 isacr'os's section on the same line 100 g in the opposite direction, as indicated b the arrows 4. f

As'shown in the rawings, 10 indicates the body of the socket, which is a suitable piece of insulating-materialadapted to be secured to a su port and having a-sleeve portion 11 ada to to house the usual'securing portion of t e lamp. As heretofore stated, the body base shown is in the form of an adapter and At its external end use adapted to is accordingly rovided with an external screw threaded s eeve 12 formin one terminal and a central button 15 orming the other terminal, though the socket may as well be of the permanent form as of the adapter ty 8. I

e cured in the body 10 is a forwardly extending insulating plug 20, this plug bein shown as having a screw thread 21 by whic it is secured to the body. The exterior of this plug is non-circular in cross section, square for instance, as indicated in Fig. 3. it has an overhanging flange 23. sleeve 11 is a metal'slceve 30, ordinarily screw-threaded, but in any case formed to engage the exterior of an ordinary lamp and support it. This sleeve has at its inner end an inwardly extending flange 32 with a noncircular hole 33 through which it slidably embraces the non-circular exterior of the plug 20. The hole 33 is smaller than the, flange 23 on the plug. Between this flange 23 and the flange 32 1s a compression spring 40. This spring tends to press the s eeve inwardly, retainmg it when the socket is idle in the position shown in Fig. 2.

The terminal designed to contact with the baseof the lamp is shown as a rod 50 mounted centrally in the body and pressed toward the free end by a spring 52. This spring is shown as mounted in a recess 18 formed in the base plug 15. The end of the rod also extends into the recess. The rod is prevented from being forced entirely out of the recess by a reduced inner end of the rod 54, which occupies a reduced bore in the'end portion of the plu 20. The rod spring and plug are metallic, ut to insure l trio connection I prefer to connect a flexible wire 55 centrally to the plugandrod. The electric connection to the base of the lamp in the socket is thus provided. The sleeve 30 is electrically connected with the proper base 10C "terminal, in this case the external sleeve 12, by a suitable qfiexible conductor as 25. The lamp A is placed in the socket in the usual; manner, the lamp sleeve 0., in the embodiment shown, s crewing into the movable 10! sleeve 30, and; the base terminal a of the lamp engaging the extreme end of the rod lid-"Then the continued turning in of the lamp forces in the rod against the action of the spring 52 and at the same time draws 11( outwardly the sleeve 30 against the action of the spring 40. The parts thus assume Loosely mounted within the 70 t 1e best elecrounded by the insulating sleeve whether the socket be idle, as shown in Fig. 2, or the lamp be in place, as in Fig. 1. When idle, the metallic sleeve projects sufficiently beyond thebase terminal rod so that the lamp sleeve obtains a roper screw threaded hold on the metallic s eeve before the base of the lam engages the base rod. During this preliminary turning the sleeve 30 is firmly held with its inner end against the body, by reason of the spring 40. Accordingly the lamp may be screwed into my socket as readily as into an ordinary socket.

It will be seen that my socket is simple in construction, neat in appearance and takes up little room, and there is nothing about it to get out of order. Experience has demonstrated that it holds the lamp in the desirable yielding manner, enabling tungsten filament lamps to be efficiently used around rumbling or vibrating machinery.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a socket, the combination with a body, of a central terminal carried thereby and spring pressed outwardly, and a freely movable supporting sleeve spring pressed inwardly by means allowing it to tip 1aterally.

2. In a socket, the combination of a screw threaded freely movable sleeve forming one of the terminals and adapted to engage a screw threaded sleeve on the lamp, a member forming the other terminal and adapted to engage a base button on the lamp, and spring' means tending to force the sleeve of t esojcket inwardly while allowing it to tip laterally and to force the said member outwar'dl-y.

3. In a socket the combination with a body, of a central outwardly pressed terminal rod carried thereby a screw-threaded terminal sleeve carried by the socket, said sleeve having an inward flan e at its inner "end, a sprin within the s eeve bearing aga nst said ange, the body having a part embracing the central rod which has means for forming an abutment for the spring.

'4. In a socket, the combination with a body, ofa base terminal carried thereby, saidbody having a plug for surrounding the base terminal, an inwardly pressed longitudinally movable screw-threaded terminal sleeve carried by the socket, a helical spring surrounding the plug and bearing at one end against the projection of the plug and at the other against a projection on the sleeve, and means for preventing the sleeve rotatin 5. In a socket, the combination with a body, of a central base terminal curried thereby, a screw-threaded terminal sleeve carried by the socket, said sleeve having an inward flange at its inner end, and a spring within the sleeve bearing against said flange and pressing it inwardly while allowing it to tip in any direction, the body having a. part embracing the central terminal and provided with means forming an abutment for the spring.

(3. In :1. socket, the combination of an insulating body having a sleeve portion, a metallic screw-threaded sleeve loosely mounted within the body, a spring within the body tending to force the metallic sleeve inwardly, and a central terminal mounted within the body, the body having a central plug portion, having an overhanging head forming an alnitmcnt for the sprin 7. The combination of an insulating body and a central plug non-circular in cross section carried by the body, a sleeve having means for engaging the lamp and having at its inner end a lateral flange with a non-circular hole which loosely embraces the plug, a spring surrounding the plug and bearing against said flange, and means for conveying current to the lamp.

' 8. The combination of an insulating body haviin an extension sleeve, and a central plug non-circular in cross section carricd by the body, a screw-threaded sleeve within the body having at its inner end a lateral flange with a non-circular hole which loosely embraces the plug, and a spring surrounding the plug and hearing agalnst said flange.

9. The combination of an insulating body and a central plug non-circular in cross sedtion carried by the body, a screw-threaded sleeve having at its inner end a lateral flange with a non-circular hole which loosely enibraces the plug, a spring surrounding the plug and bearing against said flange, a slidable rod loosely mounted within the plug, and a spring pressing said rod outwardly.

10. The combination of a body, a sleeve loosely mounted in the body, a plug carried by the body and having an overhanging head, said sleeve having an inward flange extending behind the head and loosely enib racing the exterior of the plug, a compression sprin between said head and said flange, an a central terminal mounted in the plug and projecting beyond the head of the plug.

11. The combination of a body having an external sleeve, an internally threaded metallic sleeve loosely mounted within said external sleeve an insulating plug carried by the body and having an overhangin hea said metallic sleeve having an inwar flange extendin behind the head and loosely embracing t e exterior of the plug, a compression sprin between said head and said flange, an a central terminal mounted in the plug and projecting beyond the head of the plug. y

12. T e combination of an insulating body havin an extended sleeve, an internally threa ed metallic sleeve loosely mount ed within the body sleeve, an insulating plug screwed into the body having an overhangin head, said metallic sleeve havin an inward flange extending behind the bee and loosely embracing the exterior of the plug, a comression spring between said head and said flange, a central terminal rod slidably mounted in the plu and a compression spring mounted in tie body and pressin said rod outwardly.

relatlvely to t 13. The combmatlon of a body, an internally threaded metallic sleeve loosely mounted in the body and having an inward flange, a spring bearing against said flange, and a loosely mounted central terminal rod in the body, a spring1pressing said rod outwardly e sleeve Which is pressed inwardly relatively to the terminal rod, a metallic plug secured in the base portion of the body and having an electric connection with said rod, and a metallic sleeve mounted on the exterior of the body and havingan cleotric connection with the loose sleeve within the body.

14:. The combination of a body, an internally threaded metallic sleeve loosely mounted in the body, an insulating plug carried by portion of the body, a metallic plug secured in the base of the dy and having an electric connection with said central terminal, and a metallic sleeve mounted on the exterior of the body and havi an electric connection with the loose met ie sleeve.

15. The combination of an insulating body having an extended insulatin sleeve, an insulating plug having an overhanging head and occupying said sleeve and screwing into the body, a central rod slidably occupying the body and plug, a longitudinally recessed metallic lu mounted in the end of the body and sli ab y embracing the end of the rod, a compression spring within the recess of the metallic plug pressing the rod outwardly, a movable internally threaded metallic sleeve within said insulating sleeve, said metallic sleeve having an inward flange at its inner end loosely embracing the insulating plug, and the hole in the sleeve and the exterior of the insulating lug being non-circular to prevent rotation othe sleeve, 0. com ression sprin mounted between the head on a plug an said flange, a screw-threaded metallic sleeve s'tationarily mounted on the exterior of the body, and an electric conductor connectin the movable internal metallic sleeve with the stationary external metallic sleeve.

In testimony whereof I hereunto ailix my signature.

ARTHUR L. SMITH. 

